Monthly Archives for January 2025.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
SpaceX scrubbed the launch of its Falcon 9 rock on Sunday morning with just 11 seconds to blastoff – because air traffic control directed a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu into the restricted airspace of its path.
Pakistan International Airlines – arguably the worst airline in the world, known for sacrificing a goat as part of its maintenance procedures and flying with more passengers on board than seats, and pilots with fake licenses – is under scrutiny again after flight PK150 from Dammam, Saudi Arabia to Multan, Pakistan diverted to Lahore and landed on the wrong runway.
Flying American Airlines from Miami to Chicago, cabin crew refused to take a box from food the passenger brought on board themselves, and according to the passenger, they responded “We don’t throw away your personal garbage.” So the passenger placed the box in the aisle and he says they still wouldn’t throw it away – they just kept kicking it out of the way each time they walked up or down the aisle.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
LAX is about to renovate terminal 5 at a cost of $1.7 billion. The plan is to substantially complete work in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. This will upgrade the terminal experience, but will not add any gates.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Hotel loyalty programs like Marriott Bonvoy promise upgrades to their frequent guests, if rooms are available at check-in, but getting those upgrades can be tough. There are too many elites – anyone with their premium credit card is a Platinum – but hotels play games also.
For the most part, upgrades have been tough to get because (1) premium demand has grown while the supply of premium seats hasn’t kept up, and (2) airlines have shifted their merchandising to take less money for those seats from any willing buyer rather than honor frequent flyer upgrades.
However part of the reason why Delta’s upgrade percentage is so low, it seems, is because gate agents at Delta just don’t process upgrades as reliably as they do at other airlines.
Marriott appears to be testing a requirement that guests give up housekeeping during their stay in order to get the cheapest room rates.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
